Thanks for the response guys. Ehm, Tom, there's bits of yours I don't understand. I'm a Scot who has been playing the pipes for some 22 years in grade 1 pipe bands. I've never heard of a "lay". Well not in that context anyway. Tony's spelling of pibroch is fine for English. "Pibrock is, well, ehm, wrong. A pibroch isn't a dirge or sad, slow song. It's more like an exercise made up of a number of variations on a central theme (like classical music). There are various long running arguments as to it's origins or validity. Some would say it's decended from the ancient MacCrimmons. Others would say it was the produce of a madman who was the personal piper to Queen Victoria. Either way it's an established artform which is pretty difficult to play. Personally I prefer the Ceol Beg to the Ceol Mor.

Sandy